Entry level balisongs

[danny_171]

Recently I've become interested in balisongs and flipping, and so I decided to order one online. I ordered this cheap Steel Ocean for $15, which, after some (late) research, I found out was the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality. When it arrived, I opened the package, looked it over, and started testing out a few basic flipping tricks...only to have one of the handle screws come loose and fly into my bookcase. I am not exaggerating when I say that within twenty minutes almost every pin had fallen out. First went the latch, then the screw holding the bite handle together, then a tang pin, and finally the screw holding the bite handle to the blade. I have never, ever bought a product that was as poorly made as this POS.

I'm a broke college student who isn't terribly interested in collecting knives, so I'm not interested in or able to drop a lot of money on a nice knife. I'm looking for an affordable ($20-30) balisong that won't fall apart on me. Ideally I'd like it to have a spring latch, but I realize that may not be realistic for the price range. It will be used for flipping but not much else, as they're not legal to carry here. I liked the size and weight of that one, though I don't know if that's a typical size or not. I imagine it is. Do you have any suggestions that are affordable yet are still worth the money?

[jlagman]

The hard truth of the matter is "you gotta pay to play, so play nice."

More and more models are going out of production due to legal reasons. It's harder to get a hold of one, and if you do find one, expect to pay more than you're willing to.

[Gregster]

Technically, the only "Bali Song" knives are produced by Benchmade, who I believe bought the rights/license to the Bali Song name. I got one for Christmas a few years back from my Dad, who's been an avid knife-collector for years. The quality (and retail price) are what one would expect from a Benchmade.

I returned the favor a couple years later by giving the old man a butterfly knife for his brithday. Damned if I can think of the name of the maker, but a few years ago some well-regarded bladesmith who made mostly high-end knives got the big idea of turning out a line of quality butterfly knives that would be modestly-priced. They are not sexy, but very well-made for a decent price (around $30 the time I bought it).

I'll have to see if I can figure out who it was...

Good thing your experiences did not end worse. I once bought a knock-off telescoping ASP baton at a gun show (which I've found always have at least one or two vendors who sell knives, swords and such which suck ass) for $40, thinking I got a swell deal. WIthin a week, I was showing it to a friend and when I went to deploy the thing to full length, the telescoping went flying off and narrowly missed taking out my 29" TV set. Upon examination, I found it had been held in by three of four shitty little spot welds.

Lesson learned there; bought a proper ASP on for $70,still lovin' it.